North coast woman takes on Paris Marathon for ectopic pregnancy charity which helped her through 'worst year of her life'

Personal trainer Ruth Fields is taking on the Paris Marathon on April 7 in aid of The Ectopic Pregnancy Trust. An ectopic pregnancy is when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb, usually in one of the fallopian tubes.

Ruth said: “2022 was the worst year of my life, constant visits to the hospital, numerous unexplained pregnancy losses and one ectopic rupture which was life threatening. Someone was watching over me that day I was rushed into hospital, straight to surgery not sure what was happening.

"But I came out alive with a fallopian tube removed and a little baby that never got the chance to even grow. Mentally this destroyed me, I was in a hole that I never felt I could come out of.

"I woke up to the surgeon telling me the operation was successful. It was an ectopic pregnancy that had ruptured and a tube therefore had to be removed but the other tube was still there, which would allow me to be able to try for a baby at a later stage. Thankful to be awake and highly dosed up on pain relief, I couldn’t think about much else at that time.

"The aftermath of all this caused a lot of mental pain, I struggled and still do struggle with these thoughts, even now over a year on. But with the help of friends, family and this charity sharing stories and helping me feel not so alone, I feel like I am getting there in terms of coming to terms with it all.

"I will never fully heal from it all and will always think of those little angels I will never meet but I do know, what felt like something I never thought I would recover from, I am getting better.

"One piece of advice I will give someone feeling this pain is to remember everyone’s story is different, everyone feels different and deals with things differently. No one will know exactly how you feel and only you will know that, but please chat to someone, don’t block it out and think you can or should deal with it on your own.

"Only now am I facing up to what really happened and I’ve had to reach out for help, there is no shame in it. This can be such a taboo topic that we just don’t talk about but if this helps at least one person then raising awareness and money for this charity will be so worth my while.”

Preparing for her April challenge around the streets of the French capital city, Ruth added: “I am not a runner but wanted to pick something challenging. Anyone who knows me, knows I am pretty stubborn, I love a challenge and I don’t like giving up, so now I’ve committed to something as scary as this very long run, there's no turning back!”

To date, Ruth has raised an incredible £8,149 of her £10,000 target. To help her reach that goal, donations can be made via JustGiving.